DRAFTING BEGINS AT DIS: The first two drivers to draft together on Thursday were Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. Hamlin gave Kenseth’s car a couple of shots during the early afternoon session at Daytona International Raceway.

Afterward, crewmen from both JGR cars took a close look at Kenseth’s rear bumper, which received some minor damage in the contact. Hamlin said the new G6 cars make the old two-car tandem drafting a thing of the past.

“The back car gets a lot of air to it,” said Hamlin. “So it essentially makes it hard to suck up to the front car. I think it will bode well for our competition at other race tracks going forward, where the front car doesn’t have such a huge advantage. That part of it is pretty optimistic. And it definitely will lend more to pack racing vs. two-car tandem.”